by Sean Highkin, USA TODAY Sports

by Sean Highkin, USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Lakers are clinging to the eighth seed in the Western Conference playoffs and have been plagued by injuries all season to key players. However, head coach Mike D'Antoni isn't talking like the team is on the edge of the lottery. Here's what he told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports:

So, about that...

Purely on paper, if this was October and everyone was still in awe of the Lakers trading for Steve Nash and Dwight Howard, then sure, that's a perfectly reasonable thing to expect. But it's been far more than just injuries that have given the team problems. If we take away Kobe Bryant's personality clashes with Howard; Pau Gasol's disagreements with D'Antoni over his minutes and role even before the foot injury; the fact that Nash, one of the best pick-and-roll point guards in NBA history, has been forced to play off the ball much of the season; their primary scoring weapon off the bench being 36-year-old Antawn Jamison; Howard being the only player on the team who hasn't been a complete liability on defense; and the fact that the Spurs, Thunder, Nuggets, Clippers, and Grizzlies have just plain been better this season, regardless of any injuries, then yeah, the Lakers probably should be a top-four team in the West.

As it is, they're about to play a must-win game against the Los Angeles Clippers, while hoping the Golden State Warriors take care of the Utah Jazz and keep them from overtaking the Lakers for the final playoff seed.